Qorus and Accenture today announced the winners of the tenth annual Qorus-Accenture Banking Innovation Awards during an interactive online ceremony attended by the top-3 winners in each category and other leading banking innovators.
The awards, which honor the best ideas and practices transforming the industry for the benefit of banks and their customers, attracted more than 450 entries from 182 institutions in 61 countries, with applicants ranging from agile start-ups to the world’s largest financial institutions.
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Winners were selected across seven categories through a peer-based voting process combined with a panel of judges from leading global financial firms. The winners of the Qorus-Accenture Banking Innovation Awards 2023 are:
• Bradesco (Brazil) – was named Global Innovator 2023 for the bank’s ongoing dedication to innovation, as part of its commitment to becoming a future-ready company, and delivering world-class experiences to its customers, agents and employees. This has led to the launch of several new products and services, including its E-agro platform that uses data analytics to improve farmers’ access to resources and support and an internal e-commerce platform that allows employees to request and track corporate supplies. The silver and bronze runners-up, respectively, were Emirates NBD (United Arab Emirates) and CaixaBank (Spain).
Emirates NBD: Innovator of the Year at Qorus Reinvention Awards - MEA 2023
• BNP Paribas Fortis (Belgium) – received the Beyond Core Banking Offerings award for its ‘HappyNest’ initiative that offers new green properties to rental customers who can later buy their homes at a discount, making energy-efficient housing more accessible. The silver and bronze runners-up, respectively, were Standard Chartered (Singapore) for ‘Nexus, Standard Chartered’s Banking-as-a-Service solution’ and Ecobank (Nigeria) for ‘Ellevate by Ecobank’.
• Bank of Montreal (Canada) – received the Core Offering Innovation award for ‘BMO New to Canada’. This pre-arrival digital account-opening facility enables eligible applicants from 13 countries to obtain a standard bank account and a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) account ahead of coming to Canada. The silver and bronze runners-up, respectively, were Bradesco (Brazil) for ‘Bradesco E-agro - The Digital Partner of Agribusiness’ and Intesa Sanpaolo (Italy) for ‘Switcho’.
• ABN AMRO (Netherlands) – received the Future Workforce award for ‘ABN AMRO Contact Centre GenAI’ that uses generative artificial intelligence systems that enable call center agents to swiftly answer customer queries, by giving them ready access to the bank’s knowledge resources, and help them create post-call summaries. This has improved agent performance and job satisfaction. The silver and bronze runners-up, respectively, were Bradesco (Brazil) for ‘Brasupply Internal Ecommerce Platform’ and DBS Bank (Singapore) for ‘Future Ready Workforce’.
• Intesa Sanpaolo (Italy) – received the Neobanks & Specialized Players award for ‘Isybank’, a digital bank that combines the robustness of a traditional banking services provider with the agility of a neobank. It offers customers a quick and easy onboarding process and provides them with a diverse range of financial services that they can access using a mobile app. There were more than 22,000 downloads of the Isybank app in the first month after the bank’s launch. The silver and bronze runners-up, respectively, were Judo Bank (Australia) for ‘Judo Bank a Specialist, Pure Play SMB Lender’ and Stash (USA) for ‘Launching Stash Core’.
• Intesa Sanpaolo (Italy) – received the Reimagining the Customer Experience award for ‘Ellis: Cognitive AI & GenAI Revolutionize Customer Service’. This intelligent digital assistant operates across the bank’s mobile app, internet banking and public website platforms and uses artificial intelligence to chat with customers. It can perform more than 20 tasks and answer questions about 200 topics. The silver and bronze runners-up, respectively, were HSBC (Hong Kong) for ‘Insight-led Customer Selection Engine’ and Emirates NBD (United Arab Emirates) for ‘WhatsApp Banking with Omnichannel Integration’.
• Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Australia) – received the Social, Sustainable & Responsible Banking award for ‘Sustainability Action Tool (SAT)’ that helps small businesses embed sustainability in their organisations. SAT, which is available on the bank’s NetBank website and CommBank app, identifies how firms can improve their energy and waste management as well as enhance their employee wellbeing. The tool also provides insights into the sustainability credentials of suppliers. Runners up were Standard Bank (South Africa) for ‘LookSee: Renewable Energy Through Flexible Financing’ and ING Bank (Netherlands) for ‘Blind Faith: Enhancing Mobile Payments for the Visually Impaired’.
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“It’s just incredible that the awards are 10 years old and continue to get bigger and better every year,” said John Berry, Qorus CEO. “This is a true testament to the critical role they play in advancing the banking industry by meaningfully recognizing and rewarding the best and brightest ideas turned into action so others can learn and grow. This year’s submissions offer rich inspiration, illustrating how banks are broadening and diversifying their products and services to meet and exceed customer needs and expectations; investing in digital innovations; creating new ecosystems and marketplaces; and championing the sustainability imperative.”
David Cordero, who leads Accenture’s European Banking industry group, said, “Over the last 10 years, banks have responded to various challenges — including heightened competition from fintechs and macroeconomic headwinds — by doubling down on innovation. They have embraced technologies like cloud, data and AI, to build resilient digital cores that can help deliver more personalized customer experiences and launch new products faster. This year’s winners continue to lead the way in transforming banking.”
Qorus members can access a complete feature including a detailed presentation of all the winners here
